Intelligence 41 (2013) 688698

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IQ and the wealth of nations: How much reverse causality?

Gregory B. Christainsen
California State University, East Bay, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd., Hayward, CA 94542 USA

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 25 February 2013
Received in revised form 29 June 2013
Accepted 19 July 2013
Available online xxxx
Keywords:
IQ
Living conditions
International differences

a b s t r a c t
This paper uses data from 130 IQ test administrations worldwide and employs regression analysis
to try to quantify the impact of living conditions on average IQ scores in nationally-representative
samples. The study emphasizes the possible role of conditions at or near the test-takers' time of
birth. The paper finds that the impact of living conditions is of much smaller magnitude than is
suggested by just looking at correlations between average IQ scores and socioeconomic indicators.
After controlling for test-takers' region of ancestry, the impact of parasitic diseases on average IQ
is found to be statistically insignificant when test results from the Caribbean are included in the
analysis. As far as IQ and the wealth of nations are concerned, causality thus appears to run mostly
from the former to the latter. The test-takers' region of ancestry dominates the regression results.
While differences in average scores worldwide can thus be plausibly viewed as being influenced
by genetic differences across world regions, it is also possible that score differences are influenced
by regional differences in culture that are independent of genetic factors. Differences in average IQ
across world regions may change in the years ahead insofar as the strength of Flynn effects may
not be uniform, but some regional differences in average g levels seem likely to continue
indefinitely.
2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The presence or absence of intelligence can certainly affect
the wealth of nations. In this context reverse causality is the
idea that, other things equal, the wealth of nations affects
intelligence levels as measured by, e.g., average IQ. Malnutrition, a lack of mental stimulation, poor sanitation, and a heavy
disease burden offer quite plausible explanations for low IQ
scores.
The specific questions addressed by this paper are as
follows: (1) To what extent are differences in average IQ
scores across countries caused by differences in living
conditions?; (2) What is the relationship between average
IQ and socioeconomic factors per capita living standards,
malnutrition, the disease burden, and education levels?;
(3) How is average IQ affected by the presence of
parasites?; and (4) After controlling for differences in

Tel.: +1 510 885 3301.

E-mail address: gregory.christainsen@csueastbay.edu.
0160-2896/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2013.07.020

living conditions, to what extent do average IQ differences

reflect differences in ethnicity?

1.1. IQ, the wealth of nations, and the direction of causality:

previous research
The principal analytical challenge facing any effort to
study the relationship between IQ and the wealth of nations
is to avoid simultaneity bias; any results obtained may be
confounded by causality that runs in the opposite direction.
Jones and Schneider (2006) obtained very robust formal
results to support the notion that causality runs from IQ to
the creation of wealth. Then, in a more informal way (Jones &
Schneider, 2010), they downplayed the possible existence of
significant reverse causality. On the other hand, Wicherts,
Borsboom, and Dolan (2010a) asserted that [n]ational IQ is
just another indicator of development; causality runs from
wealth to IQ. They found good correlations between IQ and
socioeconomic conditions, but understand very well that
correlation does not necessarily indicate causation.

G.B. Christainsen / Intelligence 41 (2013) 688698

In a related vein, the regression analysis by Hassall and

Sherratt (2011) did not delve into the issue of causality. They
found modest statistical links between IQ and socioeconomic
factors education, per capita gross domestic product (GDP),
and malnutrition. Differences in parasite prevalence were the
factor having the strongest relationship to the variation in IQ
scores across countries, as had been found in a less sophisticated study by Eppig, Fincher, and Thornhill (2010). Hassall
and Sherratt did not control for the test-takers' region of
ancestry.1
Rindermann (2008) measured cognitive ability by combining the results of IQ assessments and achievement tests.
Average scores on the two types of tests are highly correlated
(r N 0.80), suggesting the existence of a common, country-level
cognitive competence that scores on both types of tests reflect.
This common factor is analogous to the g-factor of intelligence for individuals (Rindermann, 2007). Rindermann then
conducted a path analysis and concluded that there is twoway causality between cognitive competence and living
conditions, but that the causality running from the former to
the latter is stronger than the reverse.
A hypothesis that is largely at odds with the idea of reverse
causality is that test-takers' region of ancestry dominates the
results. In the US, for example, ethnicity has a strong impact on
average test scores even when income or socioeconomic
status is held constant (Jencks & Phillips, 1998; Jensen, 1998,
404405). The mean IQ result for blacks has been about one
standard deviation (15 IQ points) below the one for Caucasians,
despite the fact that, on average, African-Americans have as
much as 22% European admixture (Zakharia et al., 2009). The
performance gap is more pronounced for test items with
higher g-loadings.
After controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), Jensen
concluded that there is still a 12 point difference in average
IQ scores between the two groups. And socioeconomic status
itself is affected by IQ; the fact that blacks on average have
lower SES is due in part to lower average IQ. On the g-loaded
math SAT test, African-Americans from households with
annual incomes of more than $100,000 (in terms of what US
dollars were worth in 2012) have averaged lower scores
than Asians and Caucasians from households with annual
incomes of less than $16,000 (calculated from College Board
data reported by La Griffe du Lion, 2000).
Hunt (2012) granted that genetic differences among
groups of people could play a role in explaining the worldwide
distribution of IQ scores, but based on correlations with
socioeconomic indicators, he still suggested that living
conditions play a major, perhaps dominating, role. Rindermann,
Woodley, and Stratford (2012) offered another contribution to
the discussion. As in Rindermann's previous work, the measure
of cognitive ability combined the use of achievement tests and IQ
scores (updated by Lynn & Meisenberg, 2010b). The authors
1
With reference to the discussion in Kanazawa (2008), the authors did
include a variable for a country's distance from central Africa on the hypothesis
that this distance indicates the extent to which people are likely to differ
genetically from sub-Saharan Africans. However, two peoples e.g., South
Asians and Europeans, or Han Chinese and Australian aborigines can be
almost equally distant from central Africa, but very different from each other.
The variable also fails to reect the presence of nonindigenous peoples inside
many countries. In short, the variable is not a good way to try to capture genetic
differences among IQ test-takers.

689

undertook a path analysis and regressions and concluded that

both genetic differences across groups of people and differences
in living conditions help to account for the worldwide variation
in test scores.
However, the path analysis did not allow for cognitive
ability to affect living conditions, and since their main measure of
living conditionsthe UN's Human Development Index (HDI)
was contemporaneous with the measure of cognitive ability,
coefficients from regressions that included the HDI variable were
subject to simultaneity bias; one cannot safely infer causal
magnitudes from them.
This paper uses regression analysis in an attempt to estimate
the impact of living conditions on IQ scores. Data are used from
130 test administrations internationally. It is hypothesized that
insofar as living conditions have an impact, early life experiences
are critical. Thus, the regressions emphasize conditions at or near
the time of birth. Sizable and enduring differences in average test
scores across major ethnic groups are already present at age 3
(McKinley, 2009; Peoples, Fagan, & Drotar, 1995), with Peoples
et al. finding that the result holds even after controlling for
birth-order and the education level of the mother.
Early-life conditions may affect subsequent test scores.
On the other hand, current IQ, while it can affect the production
and acquisition of wealth, cannot affect past living conditions.
By entering living conditions into the regressions in lagged
form, a better understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship can hopefully be discerned. To better isolate the role of
test-takers' region of ancestry, the regression analysis relies
on test administrations in countries inhabited primarily by their
indigenous peoples. The analysis leaves out test administrations
conducted in places such as the United States, Canada, Australia,
New Zealand, Israel, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Section 2 of the paper offers more discussion of the data and
the explanatory variables used in the regressions. Section 3
outlines the regression results. Section 4 discusses the results in
a broader context. Section 5 provides a conclusion and caveats.
2. Data and explanatory variables
2.1. International IQ scores
Lynn and Vanhanen (2002) made the first serious effort to
compile IQ scores on a worldwide basis. Later, they updated and
refined their collection of scores (Lynn & Vanhanen, 2006).
These data have been the subject of extensive commentary
(e.g., Barnett & Williams, 2004; Hunt & Wittmann, 2008;
Rindermann & Ceci, 2009, 551). Meisenberg (2012a) provided
further updates to the data, and Lynn and Vanhanen (2012) thus
included many newer IQ studies in their compilation. For all of
the data sets assembled by Meisenberg, Lynn, and Vanhanen, the
authors adjusted the average IQ scores for Flynn effects.
This paper does not use the national IQ estimates of Lynn
and Vanhanen, but it does use many of the test results
referenced in their 2012 book. The times at which test-takers
were born ranged from the 1950s to the 1990s.
In the case of sub-Saharan Africa, Wicherts, Dolan, and Maas
(2010b) and Wicherts, Dolan, Carlson, and Maas (2010c)
offered a thorough critique of Lynn and Vanhanen's criteria
for including or excluding test administrations from the data
set. Lynn and Meisenberg (2010a) replied to Wicherts et al.
(2010b), and Lynn (2010) replied to Wicherts et al. (2010c).

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G.B. Christainsen / Intelligence 41 (2013) 688698

For sub-Saharan Africa this paper uses test administrations

of the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices from Table 1 of
Wicherts et al. (2010c). Lynn (2010) offered only a few overt
criticisms of the test administrations referenced in the table. He
objected to the inclusion of samples consisting of university
students because they are not representative of a country's
general population, and he objected to the inclusion of a study
of test-takers who had to pay fees to the institution that they
were attending; such test-takers would tend to be of higherthan-average socioeconomic status. This study thus excludes
these test results as well as the result from a sample of
illiterates.
Results are also excluded if there is no way to estimate the
year when the test-takers were born, even on an average basis,
or if the test-takers were born before 1950. United Nations
statistics on socioeconomic conditions only go back to the
1950s and then only for certain countries and indicators.
Finally, test results are excluded in cases where the range of
ages of the test-takers at a single administration exceeds
10 years (e.g., children and adults taking the same test). In such
cases the idea of an average birth year loses its meaningfulness.
A common problem with school samples in sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) is the large number of children who are not
enrolled at any institution. Wicherts et al., 2010c estimated
an average IQ of 71 (on 1979 UK norms) for such children.
The mean IQs for some school samples are therefore adjusted
so that they are a weighted average of the mean score of the
enrolled children and the estimated mean for the children
not in school. Since the IQ scores for the paper's regressions
are in terms of whole numbers, no adjustment is necessary in
cases where school enrollments were high and/or the
unadjusted score was already somewhat close to 71. United
Nations statistics on school enrollments were employed, with
linear interpolation used to fill in data gaps. The overall
impact of the adjustments is that the unweighted mean of all
the scores used from sub-Saharan Africa becomes 75, about
two points lower than would otherwise have been the case.
All of the test results were adjusted for Flynn effects by
Wicherts et al.
The mean score for sub-Saharan Africa used here is higher
than the median proposed by Lynn and Meisenberg (2010a)
(median of 66 for the Standard Progressive Matrices), but
lower than the mean proposed by Wicherts and his
colleagues (82) for non-Raven's tests that have been used
in sub-Saharan Africa (Wicherts et al., 2010b). Rindermann's
(2013) review and analysis of the evidence on sub-Saharan
African IQ concluded with a best-guess mean of 75.
For non-SSA test administrations referenced in Lynn and
Vanhanen (2012), an effort is made to use only samples that
are reasonably representative of the underlying population.
Samples drawn only from residents of capital cities, other
high-end cities, or specific socioeconomic classes are not
employed. An effort is made not to judge representativeness
on the basis of the average test score itself. While sympathy
is shown for Wicherts et al.'s (2010b) criteria for excluding
test results, the use of results obtained from sick children is
not rejected out of hand insofar as some degree of ill-health
is commonplace (i.e., representative) in some countries. On
the other hand, the study excludes, which Wicherts et al. do
not, studies focused on immigrants, who may be living in
conditions very different from their region of ancestry.

The countries from which scores were obtained and the

average results (on 1979 UK norms) are shown in Appendix A.
Scores from Lynn and Vanhanen (2012) and from Wicherts et
al. (2010c) that were not used are shown in Appendix B.
2.2. Regional clusters of indigenous peoples
Following Cavalli-Sforza, Menozzi, and Piazza (1994),
indigenous peoples are defined according to residency before
the year 1492. Thus, Europeans are not indigenous to the
Americas, but Amerindians are. It is understood that much
selective migration has occurred since 1492, and this migration
may have affected the test scores and regression results to
some degree.
The dependent variable in the paper's regressions is the
average score at a test administration. To capture test-takers'
region of ancestry, a set of dummy variables is used, with the
principal question being where to set the boundaries of each
region. Cavalli-Sforza et al.'s (1994) work on the geography of
genes is used as a starting point, with due respect then being
shown for more recent research in population genetics. The
regions/genetic clusters for the study are thus: Northeast Asia,
Europe, Southeast Asia, North Africa/South Asia, sub-Saharan
Africa, the Americas, and Pacific Islands. It is understood that
genetic variation exists within as well as across these regions,
India by itself having amazing genetic diversity.
An issue for this study is whether test results seem thereby
to be significantly affected. To cite examples of the research
that is relevant for this study: in sub-Saharan Africa 14 genetic
subclusters have been identified (Tishkoff et al., 2009), but
aside from studies of the San (Bushmen) and Pygmies, there
is no clear evidence at this point for distinctive average IQ
scores from one subcluster to another. American blacks are
most strongly related to a subcluster for an area that includes
Nigeria and Cameroon. Caribbean blacks also have strong West
African links.
Southern Spain has had substantial gene inflow from Africa,
but overall, its genetic profile and test results are very European in
nature. Italys story is somewhat similar, but also features much
gene inflow from Southeastern Europe and Turkey, with impacts
on, e.g., Sicily and Tuscany. Rindermann et al. (2012) found that
the haplogroups whose presence is strongly related to
cognitive ability across countries are also strongly related
to test scores across the various parts of Spain and Italy.
Bulgaria borders on Turkey, but is, genetically speaking,
mostly European in nature (Karachanak et al., 2011, 2012).
Greece is, genetically speaking, more like Turkey than
Bulgaria is. Slovenia and Romania are very European,
genetically speaking. Guatemala is estimated to be about
three-quarters Amerindian and one-quarter ethnically European.
Bolivia is found to have a similar profile.
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Cavalli Sforza et al.
concluded that the Huai River in China has served as a dividing
line between a genetic cluster of Northeast Asians versus one of
Southeast Asians. However, more recent research (Wen et al.,
2004; Xue et al., 2008) has found greater genetic unity among
the Chinese people. The Han Chinese originated from tribes in
the Yellow River valley, north of the Huai River, but Han people,
especially males, migrated to southern China in large numbers
and had children there. Both northern and southern Chinese
are thus classified, at least at the outset, as Northeast Asians

G.B. Christainsen / Intelligence 41 (2013) 688698

here. Test scores also seem to be similar in the two parts of

China.
Indonesia is classified in this paper's analysis as thoroughly
Southeast Asian, but Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries in
the region present a more ambiguous picture. Malaysia has a
sizable percentage of ethnic Chinese and also has some East
Indians. On the other hand, Malays are a clear majority, Malay is
the main language, and the dominant culture is Malay. At the
outset of this study, Malaysia is classified as two-thirds
Southeast Asian and one-third Northeast Asian. Thais are a
clear majority of the population of Thailand, but there is a
significant Chinese presence. Thailand is classified as threequarters Southeast Asian and one-quarter Northeast Asian.
Greece is classified at the outset as half European and half
North African/South Asian. Bulgaria is classified as three-quarters
European and one-quarter North African/South Asian. Turkey is
classified as three-quarters North African/South Asian and
one-quarter European. Malta is classified as three-quarters
European and one-quarter North African/South Asian. Sensitivity
analysis is performed to see if assigning different weights in
the above cases makes for a serious difference in the regression
results.
2.3. Living conditions
Living conditions are captured, first, by real per capita GDP
(Penn World Tables, Version 7.0, chain series, reference year
of 2005 (Heston, Summers, & Aten, 2011)),2 measured for the
year in which test-takers were born. While per capita GDP
measured in terms of real purchasing power offers a standard
characterization of average living standards, it may not capture
very well all of the conditions that might affect IQ. South Africa,
for example, has had higher per capita GDP than Tonga, but
more malnutrition, which can affect brain size and functioning.
The presence of disease is also relevant for the functioning of
the brain, but may only be loosely correlated with per capita
GDP.
The United Nations collects data on several indicators of
socioeconomic conditions the percent of households consuming iodized salt, the percent of babies being breastfed, the
percent of children enrolled in school, etc. but data for many
of the indicators are very incomplete. Reasonable data for the
under-five mortality rate, on the other hand, are available in
most cases back to 1960, and earlier in some cases. Where
possible, a very recent data series (United Nations Children's
Fund, 2011) for under-five mortality is used. A year-by-year
time series can then be constructed for the countries that
contributed IQ scores to the data set. Gaps in the data were
filled in via geometric imputation with reference to the
published statistics for the beginning of each decade.
A correlation matrix pertaining to UN socioeconomic data
published in 2002 (United Nations Children's Fund, 2002)
2
In a few cases the Penn World Tables (PWT), Version 7.0 do not provide
per capita GDP estimates for a particular country for particular years, but
estimates are available from an earlier version of the PWT or from Maddison
(2010). In such cases, an alternative per capita GDP estimate is used. This
alternative estimate is divided by the US per capita GDP estimate in the
alternative data set and multiplied by 100 to calculate the other country's
per capita GDP as a percent of the US. Then we take the US per capita GDP
estimate in PWT 7.0 and use the percentage calculated above to impute a
PWT 7.0 per-capita-GDP gure for the other country and year in question.

691

shows that the under-five mortality rate is very strongly

related to the percent of age-eligible children enrolled in
primary school (Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.82,
N = 96). It is also strongly related to the rate of malnutrition
(coefficient of 0.67, N = 96), measured as the percent of
children under age five whose height has been moderately
or severely stunted. The birth-year under-five mortality rate
is thus entered into many of the regressions as an indicator
of living conditions apart from per capita GDP.
While the under-five mortality rate is very strongly
related to primary school enrollments, Barro and Lee compiled
a time-series for the average number of years of schooling
completed by people in various countries (Barro-Lee Educational
Attainment Dataset, 2011). BarroLee data for adults, age 25 or
older, are entered into many of this paper's regressions. The
birth-year value for the variable used provides an indication
of the general educational milieu in which IQ test-takers have
grown up e.g., the vocabulary of the adults around them.3
Finally, since stunting data are not available for many
countries, the paper uses as a malnutrition variable the nutrition
deficiency index of the World Health Organisation (2004). The
malnutrition data are only available on a cross-sectional
basis, and it is understood that the variable has its limitations.
Moreover, any regression coefficient for the variable is subject
to simultaneity bias; malnutrition may affect IQ, but IQ may
affect living conditions, including the rate of malnutrition.
Nevertheless, it is of interest to get an idea of the magnitude of
the statistical association between IQ and malnutrition after
controlling for the other variables.
We thus have: IQ = f (region of ancestry, per capita GDP,
chance of dying by age 5, years of education, malnutrition),
where the included variables for living conditions reflect
general living standards, the extent of disease and malnutrition, and the level of education. Estimating the impact of
parasites on IQ scores poses special challenges and is taken
up in two additional subsections of the paper.
3. Regressions vs. correlations
3.1. Middle East oil kingdoms: high per capita GDP,
moderately-low average IQ
The data set contains especially high per capita GDPs for
the average birth years of test-takers in Kuwait ($43,000 for
one group of test-takers and $47,000 for another) and Qatar
($67,000 for one group and $84,000 for another). Of course,
much of the income produced in Kuwait, Qatar, and other oil
kingdoms goes to ruling elites, raising a concern that the GDP
statistics do not provide a good picture of the living standards
of ordinary people.
If the nine observations for oil kingdoms are included, the
correlation coefficient between average IQ and birth-year
per capita GDP is just 0.24 (N = 130). If the observations for
oil kingdoms are deleted, the correlation coefficient is 0.60.
3
It might be argued that the relevant variable is the education received as
of the test date. However, many IQ tests are given to children, e.g., 10 yearolds. Even if the average number of years of education ultimately completed
by people in one country is much higher than the average in another
country, the 10 year-olds in the two countries may have received the same
number of years of education before the test: e.g., 5 years. Of course, the
quality of the schooling is also an issue.

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G.B. Christainsen / Intelligence 41 (2013) 688698

Table 1
Bivariate correlations for IQ and living conditions.

IQ
GDP
Malnutrition
Education
Under-5
mortality

IQ

GDP

Malnutrition

Education

1.00
0.24
0.72
0.66
0.65

1.00
0.51
0.39
0.50

1.00
0.67
0.70

1.00
0.80

Under-5
mortality

1.00

Table 1 shows a correlation matrix for the data on IQ, per

capita GDP, the degree of malnutrition, education, and the
under-five mortality rate.
Thus, average IQ has a strong negative correlation with
malnutrition and under-five mortality. It has a strong, positive
correlation with education, but the correlation with per capita
GDP is strong only if the observations for oil kingdoms are
deleted.
3.2. Powerful regional inuences
The regression analysis for average IQ is begun by using as
explanatory variables only a constant term and the dummy
variables for region of ancestry. These variables alone account
for 86% of the variation in all of the average test scores (N =
130), with the Northeast Asian scores centering on 105,
followed by Europe (97), Pacific Islands (85), Southeast Asia
(85), North Africa/South Asia (83), Amerindians (78), and
sub-Saharan Africa (75). All of the regression coefficients are
significant at a 1% level. For scores with a mixed-race
influence, the nonindigenous factor has been statistically
stripped out above so as to show only the indigenous
component.
For the present paper there are only two scores involving
Amerindians, one of them a score of 79 from Guatemala (for
mixed-race ladinos and Amerindians combined) on the
Draw-a-Man test, and the other a score of 87 from Bolivia.
Since the scores are for countries classified as one-quarter
European, the Amerindian influence is viewed statistically
in a very negative fashion.
3.3. The impact of living conditions on average IQ
3.3.1. Alternative specications for living conditions
Control variables for living conditions are now introduced:
per capita GDP, the under-five mortality rate, education, and
the degree of malnutrition. An additional dummy variable is
inserted to isolate the nine observations for oil kingdoms.
The variable takes on a value of 1 for these observations and
0 otherwise. The kingdoms refer to Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya,
Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia is
not included in this group for a data point pertaining to the
period of time before the 1973 run-up in oil prices.
Since the variables for living conditions are strongly
correlated with one another in most respects, results may be
influenced by multicollinearity or suppressor effects. A stepwise, forward selection approach is used for some sets of
regressions and a backward elimination approach is used for
others. The results are explicated and their trustworthiness is
then discussed.

For either forward selection or backward elimination, the

malnutrition variable stands out. In regressions (N = 129, no
malnutrition data for the Palestinian Territories) where there
is only one variable representing living conditions, whether it
be malnutrition, per capita GDP, education, or under-five
mortality, the coefficient on the variable is always statistically
significant at least at a 10% level. However, the coefficient for
the malnutrition variable is also statistically significant in the
presence of any combination of the other variables. On the
other hand, the coefficient for none of the other variables is
statistically significant in the presence of the malnutrition
variable. A regression with just the malnutrition variable
present to reflect living conditions also yields the highest
adjusted R2.
The coefficients for all of the regional dummy variables
are significant at a 1% level in every case. Table 2 shows
coefficients for the preferred model specification. The
coefficient for the oil kingdom dummy variable invariably
has a negative sign, suggesting that average IQ levels in the
oil kingdoms are slightly lower than their living conditions
would predict, but in no case is the coefficient statistically
significant.
The coefficients for the regional dummy variables indicate
that, even after controlling for living conditions, there is a
27.2 point difference in average IQ between Northeast Asians
and sub-Saharan Africans. There is an 18.7 point difference
between Europeans and sub-Saharan Africans. There is
an 8.5 point difference between Northeast Asians and
Europeans.

3.3.2. Interpreting the regression coefcients for living conditions

The variables for living conditions have only modest effects
on average IQ. Consider the following scores: China (103),
Switzerland (101), Kuwait (86), Pakistan (84), and Nigeria (79),
which are quite representative of the IQ tests administered in
those countries. The data on the living conditions for the above
scores are shown in Table 3.
For the data shown, Nigeria obviously looks handicapped.
However, Switzerland was 50 times richer than China in
terms of real purchasing power. The Chinese were also
more poorly nourished and carried a heavier disease burden. In
addition, the average number of years of schooling in
Switzerland was more than twice as high as in China.
Nevertheless, the Chinese registered slightly higher IQs.
Table 2
Impacts on average IQ (N = 129, Palestinian Territories excluded), stepwise
regression selection via forward selection or backward elimination.
Variable

Coefficient

Log malnutrition
Northeast Asians (vs. Europeans)
Pacific Islanders (vs. Europeans)
Southeast Asians (vs. Europeans)
North Africans/South Asians
(vs. Europeans)
Amerindians (vs. Europeans)
Sub-Saharan Africans
(vs. Europeans)
R2

1.37
+8.5
9.5
9.6
11.5

Statistically significant at a 5% level.

Statistically significant at a 1% level.

15.0
18.7
0.86

G.B. Christainsen / Intelligence 41 (2013) 688698

693

whether a forward selection or backward elimination process

is used. There is again only modest reverse causality.

Table 3
Living conditions for selected IQ scores.
Country

Per capita GDP

Malnutrition
(WHO Index)

Under-5 mortality
(per 1000 live births)

Switzerland
Kuwait
China
Pakistan
Nigeria

$31,228
$43,071
$617
$1021
$1355

56
147
253
575
836

9
14
67
176
269

Kuwait's per capita GDP was even higher than Switzerland's.

Its nutritional standards were clearly much better than China's,
and its disease burden was considerably lower. Yet, its average
intelligence level appears to be much lower as well 17 IQ
points lower. In fact, it is not much different than the level for
Pakistan, which has had far more miserable living conditions.
The reported IQs are difficult to explain unless the test-takers'
region of ancestry is given considerable weight. According to
the regression results, the difference in nutrition levels is
related to just 4 points of the difference in the scores
between Switzerland and Nigeria, and as noted earlier, the
malnutrition variable does not enter the regressions in a
lagged fashion. Thus, one cannot automatically conclude that
there is a cause-and-effect relationship of 4 points that runs
from malnutrition to average IQ. There could possibly be
causality going from IQ to nutrition levels as well.
In summary, the regressions do not support the view
that differences in living conditions account for a major
part of the differences in average IQ scores. Relatedly,
Rindermann, Falkenhayn, and Baumeister (under review)
studied elite samples healthy, well-nourished, comfortable, college-educated, and computer-literate of Nigerians
and Germans and introduced the groups to the Advanced
Progressive Matrices before testing them on part of it. The
conclusion was that, having controlled for the backgrounds of
the test-takers, there is indeed a 20-point or greater
difference in the average IQs of their respective populations,
independent of educational levels and living standards in the
two countries.
3.3.3. Spatial autocorrelation
We have been talking with reference to a large convenience
sample of average test scores. Classical least-squares regression
analysis assumes that data points are independent of one
another. Hassall and Sherratt (2011) questioned this assumption for the present type of study, with the suspicion being that
some of the regression results are contaminated by spatial
autocorrelation. Such autocorrelation refers to a tendency for
variables to cluster geographically. In addition, data points may
be defined in accordance with rather arbitrary national
boundaries; having numerous small countries in a region can
thus artificially inflate sample sizes, correlation magnitudes,
and statistical significances. In the present study, for example,
44 of the 130 average test scores are from Europe, although
Europe has long had well under 20% of the world's population.
The Moran's I coefficient, which is typically used to test for
spatial autocorrelation, does indicate the presence of nonrandom elements in the sample used for the paper. However,
after using standard adjustment methods (e.g., Rindermann et al.,
2012), the regression results are unaffected, regardless of

3.3.4. Is parasite prevalence the critical X factor affecting IQ?

The question naturally arises as to whether some omitted
factor (X) has a large-magnitude effect on average IQ. Any
such factor cannot be highly correlated with per capita GDP,
the under-five mortality rate, the degree of malnutrition,
average years of education completed, or any conceivable
linear combination of the above, or else its influence would
already have been picked up.
This paper has made use of the under-five mortality rate in
many regressions because the United Nations has collected
statistics on it going back to the 1950s, and because it is highly
correlated with other socioeconomic indicators, some of which
have very incomplete data. It is a good general indicator of
living conditions apart from per capita GDP. However, Eppig et
al. (2010) have made a strong case for considering parasite
prevalence as a separate, health-related factor with a sizable
impact on IQ, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. It represents an
important part of the disease burden in many countries,
whether or not children die from it.
There are two main questions about the research to date
on parasite prevalence. First, while the measure used
disability-adjusted life-years lost from infectious and parasitic
diseases (DALY) does appear to be related to IQ (r = 0.63
for this paper's primary data set), neither the paper by Eppig et
al. nor the one by Hassall and Sharratt provides evidence on
causality. To some extent, it may be that a pervasive presence
of parasites is the effect of low IQ rather than a cause. Thus, it
can be argued that Nigerians (average IQ b 80) failed to deal
effectively with parasites, whereas highly-intelligent people in
Singapore (average IQ N 100) implemented successful eradication programs.
Second, Eppig et al. acknowledge that they cannot very well
account for low IQ scores in the Caribbean, which has far less
parasite prevalence than is found in sub-Saharan Africa. Even
Haiti has less than half the parasite prevalence of South Africa,
and less than one fifth of the parasite prevalence in Zimbabwe.
Table 4 shows the extent of parasite prevalence in selected
countries.
A statistical problem concerning parasite prevalence is
that, while the World Health Organisation (2004) has fairly
recent data on it for many countries, there is scant quantitative
evidence going back several decades. But the now-distant past is
when many of the brains tested for the LynnVanhanen
compilation were developing. It is therefore awkward to claim
that causality has been shown to go from parasites to IQ when
the parasite data were collected well after most of the IQ tests
were taken.
To try to determine an order of magnitude for the possible
relevance of parasites, we first include in IQ regressions the
variable used by Eppig et al. and by Hassall and Sharratt. The
regressions also have the regional dummy variables and various
combinations of the other variables for living conditions. A
logarithmic form for the parasite variable offers slightly stronger
results than a linear form.
If the parasite variable is the only variable in the
regression representing living conditions (N = 129), the
coefficient for the variable is statistically significant at a 5%
level. The coefficient (0.83) suggests that Nigeria's high

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G.B. Christainsen / Intelligence 41 (2013) 688698

parasite load is associated with a reduction in average IQ of

about 4 points vis--vis Switzerland. However, if the
malnutrition variable is also entered into the regression, its
own coefficient is statistically significant (once again), but
the one for the parasite variable is not. Making adjustments
for spatial autocorrelation does not change these results,
assuming stepwise selection. The adjusted R2 is higher if the
parasite variable is simply left out.
3.3.5. Inclusion of average IQ scores from the Caribbean
We now add to the data set average IQ scores for predominantly black countries in the Caribbean. These scores were not
originally included because ethnic sub-Saharans are not
indigenous to the Americas. The first IQ scores that are
candidates for inclusion are Caribbean scores from Lynn and
Vanhanen (2012). However, it appears that Lynn and
Vanhanen badly mischaracterized the available test results
for Jamaica and were unaware of studies done in Haiti (Jason
Malloy, www.humanvarieties.org, 24 January 2013c and 1
March 2013a). In fact, there are now many available scores for
Jamaica other than those mentioned in Lynn and Vanhanen's
work. The median value of the scores from reasonably representative samples is 79. Their unweighted mean is 78. There
are two alternative, very divergent scores available for Haiti
(mean value of 81). Lynn and Vanhanen do have usable scores
from Barbados (80), Dominica (67), St. Lucia (62), and St.
Vincent (71), plus one usable score from Jamaica (71) (included
by Malloy). See Appendix C.
If we substitute in the alternative scores for Jamaica and the
two scores for Haiti, but include the other Caribbean scores
from Lynn and Vanhanen, the correlation between parasite
prevalence and IQ changes from 0.63 to 0.49. In the
regressions (N = 151), the coefficient for the parasite variable
becomes statistically insignificant in every case, regardless of
whether adjustments are made for spatial autocorrelation.
The explanation for this result is quite simple: the
unweighted mean of all the scores used from the Caribbean is
76, almost the same as the mean of the scores used from
sub-Saharan Africa, despite the great difference in parasite
prevalence in the two locations. Thus, with Caribbean scores
included, the regression analysis regards parasite prevalence as
an unimportant factor in the determination of average IQ.
Table 4
Parasite prevalence in selected countries: disabilityadjusted life-years (DALY) lost from infectious and
parasitic diseases (World Health Organisation, 2004).
Country

DALY

China
Japan
Switzerland
UK
India
Indonesia
Congo
Nigeria
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Barbados
Dominica
Haiti
Jamaica

985.88
164.38
181.55
187.20
4753.22
3099.10
15033.42
17976.10
22646.43
57454.07
1371.81
950.01
10121.21
2009.08

Test-takers' region of ancestry again dominates the results.

China has just as heavy a parasite burden as Dominica, but far
higher average IQ. Generally speaking, elite Nigerians who do
not have parasitic diseases and do not suffer from malnutrition
simply do not have IQs that are close to those of elite Germans
(Rindermann et al., under review).
The evidence on average IQ levels in the Caribbean remains
open to discussion, just as the evidence for sub-Saharan Africa
remains somewhat unsettled. Ethnic sub-Saharans in the
Bahamas and Bermuda may get higher average scores than
Jamaicans, Haitians, or Barbadians, but it will take a while to
more clearly establish the average IQ levels for blacks in these
countries.
4. Discussion
4.1. Elaboration of the study's ndings
It is important to note the difference between an impact
on individual IQ and an impact on average IQ. For example, a
study in Barbados found a 15 point IQ difference between
children who had been moderately or severely malnourished and children who had not (Galler, Ramsey, Solimano,
Lowell, & Mason, 1983; Galler, Ramsey, & Forde, 1986), a
rather dramatic-looking impact. Sixteen and a half percent
of the Barbadian children were classified as moderately
or severely malnourished. Putting aside issues of causality,
malnutrition was thus associated with a reduction in average IQ
of (15 0.165) = 2.475 points, which does not look as dramatic
as the 15 point reduction for malnourished individuals. In any
event, even the average IQ of the well-nourished Barbadians was
less than 83.
The regression results for reverse causality are not much
affected by changes in the regional boundaries. For example,
if China is classified as one-quarter Southeast Asian, or if Italy
is classified as one-quarter North African/South Asian, the
explanatory power of the regressions is slightly weaker. The
overall conclusion is that it is very plausible to argue that
regional differences in average IQ scores are much affected by
genetic differences across groups of people, but it is also
possible that they are affected by cultural differences across
regions that are independent of genetic factors. The search
for an X factor continues.
4.2. Related literature in behavioral genetics
Across individuals, studies of identical twins reared apart
have typically found intelligence to be greatly influenced by
genetic factors (e.g., Bouchard, 2004, Table 1), at least in
adulthood. Explanations for racial differences in average IQ
scores have been a more contentious matter. Transracial
adoption studies offer a possible way to separate the effects of
genes from culture. If, near the time of birth, representative
children of one race are adopted into the culture of another
race, data can be collected to see whether the average IQ of the
children turns out to be close to the average of other members
of their race, or whether it turns out to be closer to the average
for other members of their adoptive culture.
A problem with most such studies is that IQs are assessed
only during childhood, whereas it is axiomatic in the behavioral
genetics literature that the influence of heredity is not fully

G.B. Christainsen / Intelligence 41 (2013) 688698

established until later on. One can therefore find transracial

adoption studies of children that support the hypothesis of
heredity-based differences in intelligence across races (Rushton
& Jensen, 2010), but one can cite other studies that do not
support such a view (Nisbett, 1998). Ideally, those under study
would be tested at an older age in addition to being tested as
children.
In the famous case of Weinberg, Scarr, and Waldman
(1992), black children adopted at an early age into white
families had reasonably good IQ scores when tested at age 7,
but scored much closer to the mean for all black children, both
adopted and unadopted, at the age of 17. Mixed-race adoptees
ended up scoring part-way between the average scores for the
white adoptees and the black adoptees, respectively, even in
cases where the adopting parents mistakenly believed that the
mixed-race children had two black biological parents.
It is also worth mentioning that, insofar as a child's
socioeconomic status (SES) and home environment may be
improved by adoption, the increase in IQ that occurs at least
on a temporary basis does not occur on the g-factor of
intelligence (Jensen, 1997), whereas the IQ difference between
high-SES and low-SES children raised by their biological parents
is on the g-factor. To the extent that measured IQs are related to
reaction times, brain-wave amplitude, nerve conduction velocity,
school performance, and job performance, the correlations are
strongest for highly g-loaded tests (Jensen, 1998).
Jason Malloy (www.humanvarieties.org, 16 February
2013b) has unearthed a previously uncited study (Gildea,
1992) of Korean children adopted into white American
households that is of interest for both the IQ scores reported
and the data collected on home environments. The Korean
children were 812 years old and had an average IQ score
from 1/3 to 1 standard deviation higher on the Wechsler
intelligence scales (WISC) than groups of white adopted
children who also had been tested on the Wechsler scales.
Moreover, the home environments of the Korean adoptees
were found to be poor predictors of academic achievement.
There was actually a negative correlation between socioeconomic status and achievement scores within the Korean sample.
Gildea raises the possibility that the performance of the
Korean adoptees vis--vis white adoptees might be explained
by genetic factors, but one cannot be confident about the
representativeness of the sample (N = 43). In short, some of
the evidence from transracial adoption studies is provocative, but if one asks whether this literature supports a
hypothesis of a genetic basis for racial differences in average
intelligence, the answer is that, on its own, the research
cannot be considered conclusive. The transracial adoption
evidence must be reviewed together with evidence regarding forward and backward digit spans, brain size, reaction
times, and other respects in which, on average, races differ
(Nisbett, 2009; Rushton & Jensen, 2010).
5. Conclusion and caveats
5.1. Summary and perspective
This study finds that reverse causality is of much smaller
magnitude than is often assumed by just looking at
correlations between average IQ scores and socioeconomic
conditions. As far as IQ and the wealth of nations are

695

concerned, causality appears to run mostly from the former

to the latter. Region of ancestry is the main influence on the
regression results and not simply as a proxy for impacts
coming from malnutrition, parasites, or other factors in the
social or natural environment.
The results are clearest in cases where countries have very
different living conditions than other countries in the same
world region. China has had far worse living conditions than
Japan or South Korea, but average IQ scores that are close to
those of its neighbors. Taiwanese born in the early 1940s into
poor conditions on the island of Taiwan or in Mainland China
recorded an average IQ of 102 (Rodd, 1959). Kuwait and
other oil kingdoms have had much better living conditions
than other countries in the North Africa/South Asia region,
but test results that are not appreciably different.
Endowed with great diamond wealth, Botswana has
been touted as a positive example of economic development in sub-Saharan Africa. For young Botswanan adults
born after 1985, average years of schooling exceed the
mean for young adults in Turkey, and are only slightly
below the average for similarly-aged British nationals
(Barro-Lee Educational Attainment Dataset, 2011). Yet, a
reasonably representative sample of Botswanans, aged 17
20, all born in the late 1980s or early 1990s, received an
average IQ score of just 71 on the Standard Progressive
Matrices (SPM). Achievements scores have also indicated an
average IQ in the 70s. Impoverished Mongols born after 1990
scored 29 points higher on the SPM (Lynn & Vanhanen, 2012).
Some caveats are in order. The study began with a large
convenience sample, with any biases that it may contain.
While Lynn and Vanhanen have been questioned about their
characterization of average IQ in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA),
questions might be raised as well about many non-SSA test
administrations that have or have not been referenced in
their work. An ongoing re-evaluation of the data for all world
regions would be desirable.
Large and highly significant regional differences in average
IQ scores may well reflect the influence of regional genetic
factors. It is also possible that scores are affected by regional
differences in culture that are independent of genetic
considerations, although the various versions of the Progressive Matrices represent efforts to produce tests that are
culture-reduced. Transracial adoption studies can shed light
on the possible contribution of genetic factors, but other
lines of research must be considered as well.
5.2. The Flynn effect and the outlook for international differences
To account for the Flynn effect, this paper has relied on
conventional adjustments to IQ scores made with respect to
tests that were, in most cases, administered many years ago.
Wicherts et al. (2010c) have questioned whether the Flynn
effect has operated in sub-Saharan Africa in the same way as
in other places, but an analysis of all of the African IQ data in
the various papers authored by Wicherts and associates
shows nothing unusual. The average scores using conventional Flynn adjustments have essentially a zero time trend
from the 1930s to the 2000s. If the Flynn effect had not yet
begun in Africa, we would expect to see a negative trend in
the Flynn-adjusted scores. If an accelerated Flynn effect were
occurring, we would see a strongly positive trend.

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G.B. Christainsen / Intelligence 41 (2013) 688698

Rindermann's (2013) review of sub-Saharan African scores

refers to an accelerated Flynn effect found by Daley, Whaley,
Sigman, Espinosa, and Neuman (2003) in rural Kenya, but a
standardization of the Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM) for
Kenya from about the same time (Costenbader & Ngari, 2000)
arrived at a much more mundane result: an average IQ that was
89 points lower (Wicherts et al., 2010c; Lynn & Vanhanen,
2012) than the estimate by Daley et al. The CPM standardization thus implies a more mundane Flynn effect as well.
Meisenberg, Lawless, Lambert, and Newton's (2005) estimates
for Dominica support the existence of accelerated increases in
average IQ, but Khaleefa, Abdelwahid, Abdulradi, and Lynn's
(2008) results for Sudan do not.
In light of recent evidence that the Flynn effect has ended
in Northern Europe and a few other places, it is indeed possible
that there could now be a narrowing underway of differences
in average IQ between many developed and less developed
countries (Meisenberg, 2012b), but note that, in light of its
communist legacy, China's average living standards are still well
below Mexico's. Assuming that the Flynn effect is somehow
linked to ongoing economic development, won't China's advantage in average IQ over Northern Europe now widen?
Moreover, the Flynn effect does not appear to involve an
increase in the g-factor of intelligence (Te Nijenhuis, 2013).
Rushton and Jensen's (2003) comparison of black Zimbabweans

and white Americans found that much of the difference in

performance between the two groups on subtests of the
WISC-R is attributable to differences in g. The discussion in
Wicherts et al. (2010c) questions whether the available
African IQ scores are as indicative of g levels as scores are in
Western countries, but still gives credence to the existence
of substantial differences in average g between sub-Saharan
Africa and other world regions. This paper thus concludes
that, while changes in average-IQ differences seem inevitable,
some regional differences in average g levels seem likely to
continue indefinitely.

Acknowledgments
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual
conference of the International Society for Intelligence Research
in San Antonio, Texas, December 1315, 2012. The author would
like to thank Heiner Rindermann for encouragement and
assistance and Michael Woodley, Gerhard Meisenberg, Paul
Thompson, Jerry Carlson, and Robert Gordon for helpful
discussions. Chris Hassall also provided assistance. Two
anonymous referees offered suggestions for improving the
paper. None of the above people are responsible for any
remaining errors or omissions.

Appendix A
Listed below are the average IQ scores of the main data set (N = 130), where 100 refers to the average score received by
British test-takers in 1979. All scores have been adjusted for Flynn effects. Scores were drawn only from countries populated
primarily by their indigenous peoples. For Nigeria, scores are shown after adjusting for school enrollments; the unadjusted scores
are in parentheses.
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Bolivia
Bosnia
Bulgaria
China
Congo (Brazzaville)
Denmark
Egypt
Estonia
Fiji
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Korea
Kuwait
Libya
Lithuania
Malaysia ( = Malays)

99
81
81
87
94
91
101
72
97
81
98
85
98
97
99
88
79
95
101
78
86
80
87
90
101
82
100
86
85
92
85

103

107

83

98

102

89

92

97

79
87
83
91
95
102
84
103
87

80

81

82

82

84

86

88

88

89
92
95
103

93
99
103

103
104

105

106

107

107

112

109

113

96
92
(continued on next page)

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G.B. Christainsen / Intelligence 41 (2013) 688698

Malta
Netherlands
Nigeria
Oman
Pakistan
Palestine
Papua New Guinea
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa (blacks)
Spain
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Tonga
Tunisia
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
Yemen

97
99
69
81
82
86
83
90
88
78
94
80
98
98
95
68
97
83
97
101
87
86
84
84
95
83
100
81

99
72
87
84

101
75(77)

92

102

79(83)

80(85)

82(85)

82(88)

84

88

96
75
102

99
75

103
75

90

96

99
104
91

87

85

Sources: Lynn and Vanhanen (2012); Wicherts et al. (2010c, Table 1).

Appendix B

Appendix C

Listed below are average IQ scores for test administrations

from Lynn and Vanhanen (2012) and from Wicherts et al.
(2010c, Table 1) that were not used for the paper's regression
analysis. As with Appendix A, the scores in Appendix B refer
only to countries populated primarily by their indigenous
peoples.
From Lynn and Vanhanen (2012) (outside of sub-Saharan
Africa) Armenia: 92; Austria: 101; Belgium: 99, 99, 103;
Bulgaria: 94; China: 103, 104, 107, 107, 109, 113; Croatia: 90,
99, 104; Czech Republic: 96, 98, 100; Denmark: 99; Egypt:
77; Estonia: 100; Finland: 96; France: 94, 101; Germany: 90,
97, 97, 99, 99, 101, 105; Greece: 95; Greenland: 91; Hungary:
98; India: 80, 81, 82, 87; Indonesia: 87, 87; Iran: 84; Iraq: 87,
87; Ireland: 91, 92, 95, 96, 97, 97; Italy: 76, 102, 103; Japan:
100, 102, 102, 102, 103, 104, 105, 105, 105, 108, 109, 110,
113; Jordan: 86; Laos: 88, 90; Lebanon: 82; Libya: 78, 86;
Lithuania: 90; Mariana Islands: 81; Marshall Islands: 84;
Mongolia: 100; Morocco: 75, 79, 84, 84, 84; Netherlands:
101, 107; Nepal: 78; New Caledonia: 85; Norway: 100;
Pakistan: 86; Papua New Guinea: 82; Philippines: 86, 94;
Poland: 90, 106; Portugal: 101; Romania: 88; Russia: 96, 97;
Saudi Arabia: 78; Serbia: 88, 89; Slovakia: 96, 100; Slovenia:
96; Spain: 94, 97, 98; Sri Lanka: 79; Sweden 104; Switzerland: 101; Syria: 83; Thailand: 88; Turkey: 87; United
Kingdom: 100; Vietnam: 94; Western Samoa: 86, 88, 90.
From Wicherts et al. (2010c, Table 1) (sub-Saharan
Africa) Central African Republic: 71; Congo (Brazzaville):
77, 77; Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire): 74, 83;
Ethiopia: 68, 69; Madagascar: 82; Mali: 71, 76; Nigeria: 86;
South Africa (blacks): 66, 74, 75, 78, 79, 82, 84, 90, 96;
Zambia: 75, 75, 75, 79, 83, 84; Zimbabwe: 77.

Listed below are average IQ scores from Caribbean countries

populated primarily by people of sub-Saharan African ancestry.
These scores were added to the paper's main data set to help
assess the impact of parasite prevalence on average IQ.
From Lynn and Vanhanen (2012) Barbados: 80;
Dominica 71; Jamaica: 71; St. Lucia: 62; St. Vincent: 71.
From www.humanvarieties.org (24 January 2013c and 1
March 2013a) Haiti: 64, 98; Jamaica: 59, 64, 67, 68, 70, 74,
75, 79, 79, 81, 84, 85, 86, 88, 94.
Scores not used from Lynn and Vanhanen (2012) Jamaica:
60, 67.
Jamaican test scores not used from www.humanvarieties.
org, though obtained from reasonably representative samples 58, 88, 96.

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